Remember, remember, the fifth of November...
Last night I finally watched "V for Vendetta" by the Wachkowski brothers of Matrix fame. Why I didn't see this in the theatre is beyond me. There wasn't as much hype about it at the time perhaps.
Needless to say, this is one of the best movies I've seen. It is absolutely one of the most riveting, poignant, and politically relevant movies, post 9/11. I thought it would be politically more subtle, but it wasn't. It was direct and in-your-face.
But V used a page out of British history as regards one Guy Fawkes, who on November 5, 1605 tried to blow up the British Parliament but was caught and hanged for treason. Over 500 years later, around 2020 (slightly different than the book's 1990's), an anarchist vigilante named "V" used the facial image of Fawkes as a symbolic mask as he sought vindication for his time in prison and his fiery escape which caused full body burns. Britain was under a totalitarian regime (with similarities to Nazi Germany) due to the increased so-called terrorist and viral attacks on the country.
It reminded me of Star Wars episodes II and III and how the Chancellor/Darth Sidious secretly played both sides in creating a galactic conflict for his rise to ultimate power as Emperor to restore "order and peace". Same goes for Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Castro, Mao, Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, Milosovich, Kim Jong, and perhaps Putin and Bush to less of an extent, but there are so many more.
One of the best lines was when V used every single word starting with V in one long sentence. His vernacular was very vilifying!
But without giving out too much plot, the few action scenes were excellent and didn't make it the focus of the movie, unlike Matrix to an extent. The focus was the continued political battle between anarchism vs. fascism. As someone who enjoys politics and ideology, one theory is if group think is at the far right, to destroy it, approach from the far left. This movie warns us that if we want to maintain our freedom and democracy, we must not give in to fear in the name of security and so-called peace, but if we do willingly and ungrudgingly succumb to it and listen to leaders who spout rhetoric that actually goes against freedom and libertarian ideals, we are doomed, and only revolution can turn the tide so to speak. And history is rife with such examples. WWII was a revolution against fascism and we won.
Anyway, Natalie Portman was awesome and believable and is there anything that Hugo Weaving can't do?
Ultimately, this movie made you really think. With Britain already having installed surveillance cameras everywhere, much tightened airport and border security, more and more laws, especially in the US, that border on violation of privacy and freedom, the timing of the movie was actually interesting. It was supposed to be released on none other than Nov. 5, but was delayed due to the underground bombings in Britain. How poignant indeed.
Hatrock gives "V for Vendetta" 4.5 fists out of 5.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Blue Rodeo - Small Miracles
Okay kids, Blue Rodeo's new studio album, "Small Miracles", their 13th, has been out for a month and let me say that it's very good and is an improvement over their last one, "Are You Ready", but it still isn't a "Five Days In July" or "The Days In Between", but is easily in their top five of all time. Let's pick it apart, shall we?1. So Far Away - This opening track doesn't wow you, but it gets the album going, showing you that the band still has that classic sound we all know and love. Not really a memorable song though.
2. This Town - The starting piano ballad is common sound, yet original and delicate, and Jim's voice beckons out so smoothly. The song builds with a tried and true melody on top of layered instruments, augmented chords, and volume, giving it a nice dynamic. Greg's solo is simple, reminding me of his soul infused solo on "Five Days In May". For some reason, the chorus reminds me of that song, "Our House, is a very very fine house. With two kids in the yard, life wouldn't be so hard ..." Regardless, a beautiful memorable song.
3. Blue House - This is one of those fun, square dance type Blue Rodeo songs that are fun to sing a long to. There's always one of these on every album, yet they're so refreshing.
4. 3 Hours Away - Another classic Jim ballad, but with an upbeat feel added by the drum snare shuffle.
5. It Makes Me Wonder - This song has a southern rock feel with a slight Celtic hint, like Lynyrd Skynyrd meeting Tom Petty in Dublin or something. The chorus doesn't sound repetitive due to every other measure having that minor chord thrown in which darkens the feel of the sound. Greg's voice is earthy, distinct, while the rest of the band, especially the piano, round out the sound nicely.
6. Summer Girls - One of my personal favourites on the album. A pop-rock sound sung by Jim, it has a Beatles/British feel to it as if the sound of the band's song "Somebody Waits" was used as a template. The chorus is just awesome, fun to sing, an once again, an augmented minor is thrown in to keep it interesting. It blows my mind that after all these years and all these songs, the band can pump out an original song like this.
7. Together - This is Blue Rodeo's first bossanova song as far as I know, and they execute it wonderfully. Soft and subtle, yet determined. The jazz guitar chords are absolutely perfect and Greg's delicate voice fills the void while the bossanova drum beat carries it through, like you were on the Riviera waiting for that special someone to walk by.
8. Mystic River - It's these types of Blue Rodeo songs that I really enjoy. Just driving in the car down the highway with a friend, singing along and soaking in the special moments. It's a song that puts a smile on your face. Jim is loving those augmented chords thrown in there, giving it that weird but goofy fun feel.
9. Black Ribbon - A wonderful Canadian-Celtic song; this is true classic Blue Rodeo, with the reverberated guitar reminiscent of parts in "Diamond Mine". Greg's lazy voice rings wonderfully, as though he just had some whisky, and with all his deep passion, goes up on stage and plays a dirge about his darkest feelings. You can hear it in his voice. The chorus opens up the song, then it breaks down, simply setting you up for the darker moments. The song has an oaky-wood feel and thus we can say it was beautifully hand crafted.
10. C'mon - This is definitely the feel-good pop song on the album and probably why it was chosen to be it's first single. Jim's voice is fun, as if he's singing to you, and you feel part of the group... especially with the chorus telling you to "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon down with us." Okay! Sure, don't mind if I do!
11. Small Miracles - The title track is in 3/4 time, like a steady waltz and is in stark contrast to the previous song. A very nice song though.
12. Beautiful - Easily one of Blue Rodeo's "coolest" songs broken into two parts--the first a bit slow, as if it were setting it up for a more modern, Sunday afternoon coffee shop feel with it's funky beat and repeated line, "Almost as beautiful ... almost as beautiful, almost aaas ... almost as beautiful as you..." It's a new sound for the band, one that was surprising that I thoroughly enjoy, but they nail it down showing their vast style repertoire. The bass lines by Baz really round out the song ... I didn't know he could play like that.
13. Where I Was Before - This is a repeat song of "3 Hours Away" but done differently. While the first version was more upbeat, this one is slower. Another interesting concept. It's as if they tried a few ways of playing it, and couldn't decide on which one would be best so they just said, "Let's put both in!" Sure, why the hell not!
Overall, I really like this album and have been listening to it over and over since I bought it. It's the perfect autumn album, with the trees changing colour, several tracks like "Summer Girls" and "Beautiful" reflect this transitional phase which does have an effect on our psyche. The timing of the album's release at the end of summer is timely and appropriate. I'd go so far as to call this a concept album--a soundtrack for autumn, with the band "experimenting" new styles, dynamics, and bringing them together in one seemless band of change fall colours, just like the season itself.
My only critique is that there aren't as many songs I could churn out on the guitar around the campfire with some beer, but rather sit around a piano with a glass of port. The band has obviously matured. At times it's too slow, and lacks the teeth I enjoyed on "The Days In Between", but it's definitely an album I'll add to my driving through the mountains soundtrack. The variety is good enough to keep it interesting.
Hatrock gives "Small Miracles" by Blue Rodeo, 4.29 fists out of 5.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Album sales dropping
I was recently reading an article in Rolling Stone that showed several graphs of how album sales have been steadily declining over the past 6 years while track downloading/sharing has increased. The music industry always quickly blames listeners for "illegally" downloading music which has put a big $$$ dent in the biz.
While I continue to buy CDs, I don't "buy" into that argument.
In a supply and demand market, people will usually go for the cheaper if they can get it, and in the case of downloading, it's free.
But there's something different about music. You're not buying the physical CD as they cost only a few cents. You're buying the right to listen to the intellectual property in a predesignated format.
I've got a lot of good old LPs, that instead of rebuying that intellectual property, or buying another adapter dealie to transfer from LP to my computer, it's quicker for me to simply download, and then only the tracks that I want (although there are several B-side gems out there).
If there's a good new rock band on the scene, like Wolfmother, I'll buy the CD and check it out. But that has become more rare lately.
There are old bands that have been around for a while that also have a strong fan base, who'll buy their CDs, DVDs, shirts and stuff without a blink, and attend their live shows, no matter what the ticket price. Personally, I have several bands that no matter what, I'll buy their CD, to show my support and appreciation.
How many of the artists in the Billboard Top 100 can say that? Isn't a lot of the music out there just regurgitated variations of the same crap?
Why are so many old bands back together and touring?
As I mentioned, it's called supply and demand. Producers supply the goods depending on the demand from consumers. And in the case of the North American music biz, the goods simply suck, and the consumers aren't buying it.
Artists need to get more creative, originality and variations on their albums. Take bands like Foo Fighters and Green Day, whose recent concept albums won much praise, where songs are long, blend into each other, and an overall theme is generated. The best albums of all time all follow that template and most of those are from the 70's, believe it or not.
Also, take note of album reviews in magazines. Haven't seen too many 4 or 5 star albums out there recently. Most albums nowadays aren't albums anymore. They're a file repository of random tracks of random thoughts.
People are downloading the one or two hit songs from an album, but don't see the need to buy the whole thing, as those b-side gems just don't exist anymore.
So don't feel guilty, you downloaders. It's not your fault. You deserve better and it's obvious you're demanding better too.
While I continue to buy CDs, I don't "buy" into that argument.
In a supply and demand market, people will usually go for the cheaper if they can get it, and in the case of downloading, it's free.
But there's something different about music. You're not buying the physical CD as they cost only a few cents. You're buying the right to listen to the intellectual property in a predesignated format.
I've got a lot of good old LPs, that instead of rebuying that intellectual property, or buying another adapter dealie to transfer from LP to my computer, it's quicker for me to simply download, and then only the tracks that I want (although there are several B-side gems out there).
If there's a good new rock band on the scene, like Wolfmother, I'll buy the CD and check it out. But that has become more rare lately.
There are old bands that have been around for a while that also have a strong fan base, who'll buy their CDs, DVDs, shirts and stuff without a blink, and attend their live shows, no matter what the ticket price. Personally, I have several bands that no matter what, I'll buy their CD, to show my support and appreciation.
How many of the artists in the Billboard Top 100 can say that? Isn't a lot of the music out there just regurgitated variations of the same crap?
Why are so many old bands back together and touring?
As I mentioned, it's called supply and demand. Producers supply the goods depending on the demand from consumers. And in the case of the North American music biz, the goods simply suck, and the consumers aren't buying it.
Artists need to get more creative, originality and variations on their albums. Take bands like Foo Fighters and Green Day, whose recent concept albums won much praise, where songs are long, blend into each other, and an overall theme is generated. The best albums of all time all follow that template and most of those are from the 70's, believe it or not.
Also, take note of album reviews in magazines. Haven't seen too many 4 or 5 star albums out there recently. Most albums nowadays aren't albums anymore. They're a file repository of random tracks of random thoughts.
People are downloading the one or two hit songs from an album, but don't see the need to buy the whole thing, as those b-side gems just don't exist anymore.
So don't feel guilty, you downloaders. It's not your fault. You deserve better and it's obvious you're demanding better too.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Rush - Snakes & Arrows - Live Review
Live blogging, listening to the new Rush album, "Snakes & Arrows". It's been five years since their last original studio album, Vapor Trails, which was really good and angry, filled with hard, punchy sounds. A couple years after that, they put out "Feedback" which had them for the first time since they started out about 34 years ago, do cover tunes. Let's see if this one matches up, and perhaps blends things together.
1. Far Cry (5:18)
Awesome. Off time full on band riff. I love it when they do that. It's fucking raw Rush. Geddy's bass kicks ass. It's been getting some radio play. This is a much better engineered album already over their last couple. The guitars aren't as compressed and seem to come through much better. Just an excellent mix. I'm excited to hear the rest.
2. Armor and Sword (6:36)
Loving the high bass riff, acoustic guitar, and ambiance. Lyrics razor through. Chorus opens up and lets the song breathe with Geddy's beautiful harmony vocals round it out and Neil's tom tom roll blends well. Excellent song. I look forward to hearing it again.
3. Workin' Them Angels (4:46)
Geddy is missing what he used to do really well, and that is melodies. This is a bit of a filler song that isn't really grabbing me and sounds like some of their other songs. But I like the mandolin there Alex! Almost has a slight Celtic feel with whistle hints. Neil's drums sound really, really good though. And I don't mean his awesome playing, but just the "sound" of them.
4. The Larger Bowl (4:07)
Wow, more acoustic guitar. Liking the riff, Alex! Now we have some melody, Geddy! Ah yes, the bass comes in nicely. I really like this song so far. We got dynamics and a really good groove. I want to learn this on the guitar already. Drums once again, rip through, and the solo intro with Geddy doing what he does best on his bass, and Alex's solo itself are perfect.
5. Spindrift (5:23)
The last song nicely blends into this puppy. And odd erie distant guitar is heard and then it kicks in. What a fucked up riff and chord arrangement. Very progressive. I love how it kicks in and builds up. You know what I like most? The delay on the guitars. Again, an excellent sounding album. The bridge into the chorus is nicely done. Wow, Neil's drumming ... sooo good. You can really tell he had a lot of input on song arrangement. Oh! Just when you thought it was over, they kick you in the nuts with even more delay on the guitars. Very, very cool. Takes me back to Caress of Steal a bit with its weirdness.
6. The Main Monkey Business (6:01) - Instrumental
Oh wicked! More acoustic guitar with a high bass and ambient sounds and Neil giving it an African feel. They are really reaching the never before found riffs. Again, Alex's electric guitar hasn't sounded this good in a looong time. Geddy's using his voice as an instrument. I really, really like this song and glad they're keeping the instrumentals going. They are the masters of it. Oh, listen to Neil get louder and louder there at about 2:50. This is just chalk full of dynamics. This is true progressive hard rock baby! Seven more songs to go too! Oh the drums are just ripping through. Neil is God.
7. The Way the Wind Blows (6:28)
No time wasted between songs. This is a bit of a bluesier feel with a slow steady beat. I'm really hearing some influence from the "Feedback" cover album they did a few years ago. I think they really reconnected with their roots again, because I can realy hear it. This is a very flowing album. Again, lots of acoustic guitar and some beautiful singing combined with some killer riffs. I'm glad they're letting songs breathe by not having it full on all the time. A very earthy song ending on a nice major chord.
8. Hope (2:02) - Instrumental
Alex "Lerxst Lifeson" wrote this one "all by himself". That's what it says in the liner notes. Here we go... AWESOME!!! This has a Jimmy Page feel to it. I've never heard Alex play like this. Acoustic 12 string, flowing, and yet raw with good volume changes. Short and sweet.
9. Faithless (5:31)
This song starts on the same chord the last one ended on, so there's a nice transition. Geddy's high bass riff is really cool here. Again, they tease with a slower beat then Neil kicks in with a steady one kicking up the energy. I most certainly like this tune. Good melodies. And now for the chorus, some more acoustic guitar but with an orchestral pad (or real violins?) on the 7th note in the background, again, letting the song breathe out. I just love the direct talk in the chorus:
Oh, the solo just screams! Wow! The song ends on "and that's faith enough for me" and a minor chord with crazy guitar effects fading out. Cooool.
10. Bravest Face (5:11)
Comes in hard, then quiets down with some cool acoustic guitar augmented chords ... again! This feels like it continued on from the last song.
11. Good News First (4:51)
Cool groove. Sounds like a typical Rush song so far, but with a few accents from Neil. Then it breaks down, which is turning into a common new expectation on this album. The chorus breathes again and then the song ends on a major chord. This is a much more mature sounding album. It feels like they took the best dynamics from their last three albums and added more acoustic, more FEEL, and more SOUL.
12. Malignant narcissism (2:16) - Instrumental
Rush has never put three instrumentals on an album. I know of one other album that does this, but it's from Yes, and it's one of their best--Fragile. Being that it had three instrumentals on it, I can see where they get some ideas. The song stars... oh this just totally fucking kicks ass. Geddy's bass dominates this puppy. And again ... the song really breathes out with some woman in the back talking and Alex wailing , then it kick back in. There's a YYZ feel to it, definitely, with drum breaks for Neil, who obviously delivers. Shit, I wish it went on longer!
13. We Hold On (4:12)
Cool hard edged tune that really grooves with little screams from Alex's guitar.
Artwork
Rush's albums/CD cover art and photography have always been known for their beauty and relevance to the album at hand. Hugh Syme once again, delivers
Lyrics
I don't normally pay attention to lyrics, but with Neil Peart, you just can't help it. Vapor Trails felt like an album for Neil to let out his passion and frustration with the death of his daughter and wife. You can really hear it in his lyrics for "Ghost Rider" of which he wrote a book on his motorcycle travels through North America. But now after going though his healing period, he's doing some soul searching, but he has a good idea of who he is. With lyrics like "No one gets to heaven without a fight", he knows what he has to do, just wants to remind himself to follow through. Songs like "Faithless" tell us he believes in what HE believes in for his own good reasons, not because someone tells him what to believe and have faith in.
Conclusion
This is Rush's best engineered album. Yes, I'm saying it. The sound is impecible. You can hear every instrument, effect, and voice just come right through the speakers.
There are dynamics that I haven't heard from them in a long time, if at all. It is a bit mellower than Vapor Trails, but well written, melodic, beautifully thought out, and overall has an earthy feel to it, something new for them to be consistently on one album. Like I said, they seem to reach back to their roots with added energy, drive, and distinctive collaboration and originality. I'd even almost go so far as to call it a true concept album. I say that because of the three instrumentals, dynamics from song to song, track blending, but most of all from its common dark edgy yet hopeful feel to it all.
Waiting five years for an original studio album is a long time; it was most certainly worth the wait. Overall, this is an excellent album and I'd give it 4.29 fists out of 5.
My only critique is Geddy is doing to0 many harmonies on verses and I'm preferring his mid range voice a lot more, especially with Alex's acoustic strumming along like on "The Larger Bowl". His high voice with the harmonies gets on my nerves sometimes--it's overkill. I prefer it when he uses just one vocal track, with the odd hint of harmony here and there.
Neil's drumming honestly couldn't be better. He doesn't hold back and his arrangements truly compliment each and every bar of every song. Alex's acoustic work has a brilliant sound, he adds some really cool hooks here and there on electric, his guitar never sounded better, and Geddy's groovy bass riffs still blow my mind away.
I'm going to have to listen to this puppy a few more times to distinguish the songs. After that, it'll definitely be an album I can drive to the mountains to and one that'll be in my CD player for a loooong time. There is no other band out there right now that has the mix and style of songs that Rush has on "Snakes & Arrows". Even if you're not a huge Rush fan, this is just a good album overall.
1. Far Cry (5:18)
Awesome. Off time full on band riff. I love it when they do that. It's fucking raw Rush. Geddy's bass kicks ass. It's been getting some radio play. This is a much better engineered album already over their last couple. The guitars aren't as compressed and seem to come through much better. Just an excellent mix. I'm excited to hear the rest.
2. Armor and Sword (6:36)
Loving the high bass riff, acoustic guitar, and ambiance. Lyrics razor through. Chorus opens up and lets the song breathe with Geddy's beautiful harmony vocals round it out and Neil's tom tom roll blends well. Excellent song. I look forward to hearing it again.
3. Workin' Them Angels (4:46)
Geddy is missing what he used to do really well, and that is melodies. This is a bit of a filler song that isn't really grabbing me and sounds like some of their other songs. But I like the mandolin there Alex! Almost has a slight Celtic feel with whistle hints. Neil's drums sound really, really good though. And I don't mean his awesome playing, but just the "sound" of them.
4. The Larger Bowl (4:07)
Wow, more acoustic guitar. Liking the riff, Alex! Now we have some melody, Geddy! Ah yes, the bass comes in nicely. I really like this song so far. We got dynamics and a really good groove. I want to learn this on the guitar already. Drums once again, rip through, and the solo intro with Geddy doing what he does best on his bass, and Alex's solo itself are perfect.
5. Spindrift (5:23)
The last song nicely blends into this puppy. And odd erie distant guitar is heard and then it kicks in. What a fucked up riff and chord arrangement. Very progressive. I love how it kicks in and builds up. You know what I like most? The delay on the guitars. Again, an excellent sounding album. The bridge into the chorus is nicely done. Wow, Neil's drumming ... sooo good. You can really tell he had a lot of input on song arrangement. Oh! Just when you thought it was over, they kick you in the nuts with even more delay on the guitars. Very, very cool. Takes me back to Caress of Steal a bit with its weirdness.
6. The Main Monkey Business (6:01) - Instrumental
Oh wicked! More acoustic guitar with a high bass and ambient sounds and Neil giving it an African feel. They are really reaching the never before found riffs. Again, Alex's electric guitar hasn't sounded this good in a looong time. Geddy's using his voice as an instrument. I really, really like this song and glad they're keeping the instrumentals going. They are the masters of it. Oh, listen to Neil get louder and louder there at about 2:50. This is just chalk full of dynamics. This is true progressive hard rock baby! Seven more songs to go too! Oh the drums are just ripping through. Neil is God.
7. The Way the Wind Blows (6:28)
No time wasted between songs. This is a bit of a bluesier feel with a slow steady beat. I'm really hearing some influence from the "Feedback" cover album they did a few years ago. I think they really reconnected with their roots again, because I can realy hear it. This is a very flowing album. Again, lots of acoustic guitar and some beautiful singing combined with some killer riffs. I'm glad they're letting songs breathe by not having it full on all the time. A very earthy song ending on a nice major chord.
8. Hope (2:02) - Instrumental
Alex "Lerxst Lifeson" wrote this one "all by himself". That's what it says in the liner notes. Here we go... AWESOME!!! This has a Jimmy Page feel to it. I've never heard Alex play like this. Acoustic 12 string, flowing, and yet raw with good volume changes. Short and sweet.
9. Faithless (5:31)
This song starts on the same chord the last one ended on, so there's a nice transition. Geddy's high bass riff is really cool here. Again, they tease with a slower beat then Neil kicks in with a steady one kicking up the energy. I most certainly like this tune. Good melodies. And now for the chorus, some more acoustic guitar but with an orchestral pad (or real violins?) on the 7th note in the background, again, letting the song breathe out. I just love the direct talk in the chorus:
I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
But I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me.
Oh, the solo just screams! Wow! The song ends on "and that's faith enough for me" and a minor chord with crazy guitar effects fading out. Cooool.
10. Bravest Face (5:11)
Comes in hard, then quiets down with some cool acoustic guitar augmented chords ... again! This feels like it continued on from the last song.
11. Good News First (4:51)
Cool groove. Sounds like a typical Rush song so far, but with a few accents from Neil. Then it breaks down, which is turning into a common new expectation on this album. The chorus breathes again and then the song ends on a major chord. This is a much more mature sounding album. It feels like they took the best dynamics from their last three albums and added more acoustic, more FEEL, and more SOUL.
12. Malignant narcissism (2:16) - Instrumental
Rush has never put three instrumentals on an album. I know of one other album that does this, but it's from Yes, and it's one of their best--Fragile. Being that it had three instrumentals on it, I can see where they get some ideas. The song stars... oh this just totally fucking kicks ass. Geddy's bass dominates this puppy. And again ... the song really breathes out with some woman in the back talking and Alex wailing , then it kick back in. There's a YYZ feel to it, definitely, with drum breaks for Neil, who obviously delivers. Shit, I wish it went on longer!
13. We Hold On (4:12)
Cool hard edged tune that really grooves with little screams from Alex's guitar.
Artwork
Rush's albums/CD cover art and photography have always been known for their beauty and relevance to the album at hand. Hugh Syme once again, delivers
Lyrics
I don't normally pay attention to lyrics, but with Neil Peart, you just can't help it. Vapor Trails felt like an album for Neil to let out his passion and frustration with the death of his daughter and wife. You can really hear it in his lyrics for "Ghost Rider" of which he wrote a book on his motorcycle travels through North America. But now after going though his healing period, he's doing some soul searching, but he has a good idea of who he is. With lyrics like "No one gets to heaven without a fight", he knows what he has to do, just wants to remind himself to follow through. Songs like "Faithless" tell us he believes in what HE believes in for his own good reasons, not because someone tells him what to believe and have faith in.
Conclusion
This is Rush's best engineered album. Yes, I'm saying it. The sound is impecible. You can hear every instrument, effect, and voice just come right through the speakers.
There are dynamics that I haven't heard from them in a long time, if at all. It is a bit mellower than Vapor Trails, but well written, melodic, beautifully thought out, and overall has an earthy feel to it, something new for them to be consistently on one album. Like I said, they seem to reach back to their roots with added energy, drive, and distinctive collaboration and originality. I'd even almost go so far as to call it a true concept album. I say that because of the three instrumentals, dynamics from song to song, track blending, but most of all from its common dark edgy yet hopeful feel to it all.
Waiting five years for an original studio album is a long time; it was most certainly worth the wait. Overall, this is an excellent album and I'd give it 4.29 fists out of 5.
My only critique is Geddy is doing to0 many harmonies on verses and I'm preferring his mid range voice a lot more, especially with Alex's acoustic strumming along like on "The Larger Bowl". His high voice with the harmonies gets on my nerves sometimes--it's overkill. I prefer it when he uses just one vocal track, with the odd hint of harmony here and there.
Neil's drumming honestly couldn't be better. He doesn't hold back and his arrangements truly compliment each and every bar of every song. Alex's acoustic work has a brilliant sound, he adds some really cool hooks here and there on electric, his guitar never sounded better, and Geddy's groovy bass riffs still blow my mind away.
I'm going to have to listen to this puppy a few more times to distinguish the songs. After that, it'll definitely be an album I can drive to the mountains to and one that'll be in my CD player for a loooong time. There is no other band out there right now that has the mix and style of songs that Rush has on "Snakes & Arrows". Even if you're not a huge Rush fan, this is just a good album overall.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
An Army of Anyone Supergroup
Maybe just call them Army of One, but I gotta tell ya, newly formed supergroup Army of Anyone is currently the only real and true mainstream rock band out there.
Formed by the former singer of Filter and the rest of the boys from Stone Temple Pilots, their current hit "Goodbye" combines the crazy 1/8th note rocker riffs of old STP days and ties in nicely with one of the most anthemic choruses I've ever heard. And guess what? There's a mean guitar solo in there (remember those?) When's the last time you heard a guitar solo in a Nickelback song or any of the mope-rock bands? And the drumming is unfreakinbelievable, especially at the end.
With other supergroups like Audioslave done, Foo fading, Pearl Jam not generating that power they once had, Queens of the Stone Age out for now, and awaiting on Velvet Revolver's new album, there's one band standing right now.
Yet once again, AoA proves that the musicians bourne out of the late-80's/early 90's grunge scene are still 1) way better musicians, and 2) the only ones keeping real rock in the mainstream.
Formed by the former singer of Filter and the rest of the boys from Stone Temple Pilots, their current hit "Goodbye" combines the crazy 1/8th note rocker riffs of old STP days and ties in nicely with one of the most anthemic choruses I've ever heard. And guess what? There's a mean guitar solo in there (remember those?) When's the last time you heard a guitar solo in a Nickelback song or any of the mope-rock bands? And the drumming is unfreakinbelievable, especially at the end.
With other supergroups like Audioslave done, Foo fading, Pearl Jam not generating that power they once had, Queens of the Stone Age out for now, and awaiting on Velvet Revolver's new album, there's one band standing right now.
Yet once again, AoA proves that the musicians bourne out of the late-80's/early 90's grunge scene are still 1) way better musicians, and 2) the only ones keeping real rock in the mainstream.
Monday, March 19, 2007
So you're at a wedding...
Annoying songs from the late 70's and early 80's still played ALL THE TIME in nite clubs and weddings and loved by kids today:
"Oh Mickey your so fine, your so fine, you blow my mind, hey Mickey!" - Toni Basilsagerosemaryandthyme
"I love rock n roll, put another dime in the juke box, baby." - Joan Jettison
"Stayin' Alive" - HeeBeeGeeBees
"Dancin' Queen" - ABBADABBADOO
"YMCA" - Value Village People
"I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynorstraight (?)
"You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record baby" - Dead or Alive but Wish They Were Dead
"Billie Jean" - Michael Jackolantern. Me, I'd prefer Billy Dee, as in Lando Calrissian than MJ anymore.
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" - Meatplow. This usually has the guys and gals on either side "singing" to each other, but no one knows the lyrics, so they mumble it, except for one couple who raise the bar as they've been singing it in the car since 1981 on their annual camping trip to Johnston Lake.
And are you now totally sick of Bran Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Trout" now? Does anyone really get the joke of this song?
This song is ALWAYS followed by "Cecilia" by Simple Simon and Worthless Art Garfunkle. Does anyone know that it's "I fall on the floor and I'm laughing"?
"I knew the bride when she used to rock n roll" - Nick something or other. This usually has a line dance to it and all the women go "Oooah, oooah, wooh-wooh" in unison. Cute, but bloody annoying. When is it going to stop?
This is usually followed by "Wild One" by that skinny old guy and more (*gasp*) line dancing.
And since everyone is line dancing anyway, we often get the country music inserted here:
"Achy Breaky Heart" by Mullet Boy
"Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks n Dunn That, which song you'll usually find the drunk uncles at the host bar putting their arms around each other or to their nephews telling them about their lost love.
And let's not forget "Mony Mony" by Billy Idoltry. You know that lyric which everyone throws in there after each line ... "Hey mother____, get __, get ___ed". The kids still do it! We were chanting this at hall parties 20 years ago! What have we done?!
And for the rap "Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Deaf Loc and "Bust A Move" by Wasn't That Young MC are usually on the menu, followed by "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Fudge Icehead aka Rob "Spaz" Van Dam Winkle.
Often some AC/DC "You Shook Me All Night Long" is thrown in there to satisfy the one or two rocker chicks in the crowd.
Then for the oldtimers, they always play a 50's medley with Elvis, Buddy Holly, Bill Hailey and the Comets in there, then a Beatles medley because your aunt Betsy love Ringo Starr and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".
Then when the oldtimers get tired, we gotta keep the teens out there, so we got some J-Lo and "Waiting for the Night ... oh oh ..." blah blah blah. Britney "Shave My Head Baby one more time" yadda yadda.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!
Everyone of these songs is played at a wedding, 100% guaranteed and can still be heard everyday in North America at bars, nite clubs, and even on the radio. It's sad really and I blame the DJ companies for subjecting us to this mindless, soulless tripe, year after year, decade after decade.
"Do you really want to hurt me?" goes the song. I think they do. I really do.
"Oh Mickey your so fine, your so fine, you blow my mind, hey Mickey!" - Toni Basilsagerosemaryandthyme
"I love rock n roll, put another dime in the juke box, baby." - Joan Jettison
"Stayin' Alive" - HeeBeeGeeBees
"Dancin' Queen" - ABBADABBADOO
"YMCA" - Value Village People
"I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynorstraight (?)
"You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record baby" - Dead or Alive but Wish They Were Dead
"Billie Jean" - Michael Jackolantern. Me, I'd prefer Billy Dee, as in Lando Calrissian than MJ anymore.
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" - Meatplow. This usually has the guys and gals on either side "singing" to each other, but no one knows the lyrics, so they mumble it, except for one couple who raise the bar as they've been singing it in the car since 1981 on their annual camping trip to Johnston Lake.
And are you now totally sick of Bran Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Trout" now? Does anyone really get the joke of this song?
This song is ALWAYS followed by "Cecilia" by Simple Simon and Worthless Art Garfunkle. Does anyone know that it's "I fall on the floor and I'm laughing"?
"I knew the bride when she used to rock n roll" - Nick something or other. This usually has a line dance to it and all the women go "Oooah, oooah, wooh-wooh" in unison. Cute, but bloody annoying. When is it going to stop?
This is usually followed by "Wild One" by that skinny old guy and more (*gasp*) line dancing.
And since everyone is line dancing anyway, we often get the country music inserted here:
"Achy Breaky Heart" by Mullet Boy
"Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks n Dunn That, which song you'll usually find the drunk uncles at the host bar putting their arms around each other or to their nephews telling them about their lost love.
And let's not forget "Mony Mony" by Billy Idoltry. You know that lyric which everyone throws in there after each line ... "Hey mother____, get __, get ___ed". The kids still do it! We were chanting this at hall parties 20 years ago! What have we done?!
And for the rap "Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Deaf Loc and "Bust A Move" by Wasn't That Young MC are usually on the menu, followed by "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Fudge Icehead aka Rob "Spaz" Van Dam Winkle.
Often some AC/DC "You Shook Me All Night Long" is thrown in there to satisfy the one or two rocker chicks in the crowd.
Then for the oldtimers, they always play a 50's medley with Elvis, Buddy Holly, Bill Hailey and the Comets in there, then a Beatles medley because your aunt Betsy love Ringo Starr and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".
Then when the oldtimers get tired, we gotta keep the teens out there, so we got some J-Lo and "Waiting for the Night ... oh oh ..." blah blah blah. Britney "Shave My Head Baby one more time" yadda yadda.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!
Everyone of these songs is played at a wedding, 100% guaranteed and can still be heard everyday in North America at bars, nite clubs, and even on the radio. It's sad really and I blame the DJ companies for subjecting us to this mindless, soulless tripe, year after year, decade after decade.
"Do you really want to hurt me?" goes the song. I think they do. I really do.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
We're back!
After a year hiatus, I've decided to start posting here again. Whether my other cohorts decide to, it's up to them. I'm going to focus on music, movies, radio, television, and culture in general.
So what has happened in rock music in the last year?
Wolf Mother
An Aussie band that's been kicking ass on the award shows and the charts. Influences include The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, Cream and Styx. So they gotta be good right? Yes, they are. Can they continue where Jet left off?
The Killers
What's The Cure to kill off this band for good?
The Police reunion
They opened up the Grammy's, and have finished recording in Vancouver, and hit the road right away. But will Stingalingadingdong still control the band? Will Stewart Copeland tolerate the repetitive fade out chorus endings? Will Andy Summers find that augmented 67th minor chord he's been searching for?
Milhouse Van Halen
There's a Van Halen reunion with David Lee Roth but sans Michael Anthony. (Is that really a reunion?) I saw them in concert about two and a half years ago with Sammy. Not a great show, but not a bad show either. Sammy kind of ruined it for me. Can Diamond Dave still do the splits at his age?
Chris Cornell leaves Audioslave
The friggin guy doesn't even have the decency to tell his bandmates to their face. They learn it by watching him announce it on TV. Tsk tsk. Regardless, this is sad news, being that I always thought they and only a few other bands like Queens of the Stone Age and Velvet Revolver were keeping true rock alive in this world.
QOTSA
Speaking of the Queens, new album out this year as well.
Metallica
New album out soon. All I know is that Rick "Turning Albums Into Gold" Rubin is producing (well everyone). At least Bob Rock won't be playing bass guitar on the album and hopefully Kirk wants to solo again.
Rush!
Rush's new album titled "Snakes and Arrows" boasts Neil's perception of religion in today's world, comes out on May 1st. There is hope!
Okay, can we now officially declare that "Theory of a Nickelfault" mope rock is now dead?
So what has happened in rock music in the last year?
Wolf Mother
An Aussie band that's been kicking ass on the award shows and the charts. Influences include The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, Cream and Styx. So they gotta be good right? Yes, they are. Can they continue where Jet left off?
The Killers
What's The Cure to kill off this band for good?
The Police reunion
They opened up the Grammy's, and have finished recording in Vancouver, and hit the road right away. But will Stingalingadingdong still control the band? Will Stewart Copeland tolerate the repetitive fade out chorus endings? Will Andy Summers find that augmented 67th minor chord he's been searching for?
Milhouse Van Halen
There's a Van Halen reunion with David Lee Roth but sans Michael Anthony. (Is that really a reunion?) I saw them in concert about two and a half years ago with Sammy. Not a great show, but not a bad show either. Sammy kind of ruined it for me. Can Diamond Dave still do the splits at his age?
Chris Cornell leaves Audioslave
The friggin guy doesn't even have the decency to tell his bandmates to their face. They learn it by watching him announce it on TV. Tsk tsk. Regardless, this is sad news, being that I always thought they and only a few other bands like Queens of the Stone Age and Velvet Revolver were keeping true rock alive in this world.
QOTSA
Speaking of the Queens, new album out this year as well.
Metallica
New album out soon. All I know is that Rick "Turning Albums Into Gold" Rubin is producing (well everyone). At least Bob Rock won't be playing bass guitar on the album and hopefully Kirk wants to solo again.
Rush!
Rush's new album titled "Snakes and Arrows" boasts Neil's perception of religion in today's world, comes out on May 1st. There is hope!
Okay, can we now officially declare that "Theory of a Nickelfault" mope rock is now dead?
Friday, January 27, 2006
Votescamsatchewan
Kate has some news on the Desnethe - Missinippi - Churchill River riding votescam:
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/003449.html
Looks like they have a case!
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/003449.html
Looks like they have a case!
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
New Political Blog ...
Folks, my two other friends on here haven't been posting anything for some time now, so I think it's best if I moved all of my political blogging to another site, but I will remain here for movie and music reviews.
So go to Hatrock's Cave for all your bloggable political needs:
http://hatrockscave.blogspot.com/
-Snaky
So go to Hatrock's Cave for all your bloggable political needs:
http://hatrockscave.blogspot.com/
-Snaky
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Stupid Federal Election Prediction 2006
Well I wasn't even close. I'm way too optimistic at these things. As I stated, I based my findings on the Ipsos-Reid poll and that 8% lead factor.
So what did I under/over estimate?
I thought the CPC would gain in B.C. They did get +2% but lost 5 seats. That's poor strategy there. Hats off to Jack Layton for spending the most time there. The NDP ran a very good campaign and did the best they could.
In Alberta, not surprised Mike Lake won. That was a wollup actually. And my good friend Laurie Hawn gained 3 points from 2004 and turned Landslide Annie into a mudslide. (What a party we had afterward. Still recovering...) He won by 3790 votes. That's more votes than Anne won in all previous four elections - combined. She's really regretting that Paul Martin visit now.
My friend Jeremy Harrison, the incumbant Conservative, lost his seat in Churchill River in Saskatchewan by 100 votes. However, there's rumour of massive voter fraud there. Hmmm... Too bad, he's a young, bright guy with a lot of potential. Manitoba was a gain for the CPC .. finally!
Quebec surprised me. Thought the CPC would get 4 seats, but 10 seats! Wow!
I thought the Maritimes would add a few more Conservatives.
Now let's talk about Ontario. I guess I just won't ever understand that big fat province, more particularly, the Greater Toronto Area. I guess corruption, scandal, and entitlement is part of the culture. Pretty forgiving if you ask me. Heck, let's throw Vancouver and Montreal in there. Canada's three big cities still want control over the country while everyone else is tired of it. And I'm not so much talking about wayfare socialists, I'm talking big business. I'm talking about Belinda and Paul Martin. They're big business.
Harper is middle class hockey dad. And that's why he won. He related to the average Tim and Horton Canadian (hat tip to Andrew Coyne for "coyning" that phrase) and soccer mom. Years ago, I suggested to the Harper camp that they show off his hockey dad image a lot more. Very powerful Canadianna there. I'm glad they finally listened.
Well, big business won't have anyone at the cabinet table. The smaller cities are emerging -- Alberta in particular. The middle class is tired of the weight that's been placed on them with the high taxes and shitty programs. It's time we took our country back and it's nice to see that Quebec is agreeing with us again.
And I promise, no more optimistic polls. I'm not even going to mention 2004 or that'll put me into PEDS again (post-election distress syndrome).
And I can't wait until my father gets back from his month long stint in South Africa. He was never a big Harper fan. He even supported Belinda in the leadership race. While I carefully rub this win in his face, I know he'll say it should have been a majority. Then we'll have a talk about Hogtown.
So what did I under/over estimate?
I thought the CPC would gain in B.C. They did get +2% but lost 5 seats. That's poor strategy there. Hats off to Jack Layton for spending the most time there. The NDP ran a very good campaign and did the best they could.
In Alberta, not surprised Mike Lake won. That was a wollup actually. And my good friend Laurie Hawn gained 3 points from 2004 and turned Landslide Annie into a mudslide. (What a party we had afterward. Still recovering...) He won by 3790 votes. That's more votes than Anne won in all previous four elections - combined. She's really regretting that Paul Martin visit now.
My friend Jeremy Harrison, the incumbant Conservative, lost his seat in Churchill River in Saskatchewan by 100 votes. However, there's rumour of massive voter fraud there. Hmmm... Too bad, he's a young, bright guy with a lot of potential. Manitoba was a gain for the CPC .. finally!
Quebec surprised me. Thought the CPC would get 4 seats, but 10 seats! Wow!
I thought the Maritimes would add a few more Conservatives.
Now let's talk about Ontario. I guess I just won't ever understand that big fat province, more particularly, the Greater Toronto Area. I guess corruption, scandal, and entitlement is part of the culture. Pretty forgiving if you ask me. Heck, let's throw Vancouver and Montreal in there. Canada's three big cities still want control over the country while everyone else is tired of it. And I'm not so much talking about wayfare socialists, I'm talking big business. I'm talking about Belinda and Paul Martin. They're big business.
Harper is middle class hockey dad. And that's why he won. He related to the average Tim and Horton Canadian (hat tip to Andrew Coyne for "coyning" that phrase) and soccer mom. Years ago, I suggested to the Harper camp that they show off his hockey dad image a lot more. Very powerful Canadianna there. I'm glad they finally listened.
Well, big business won't have anyone at the cabinet table. The smaller cities are emerging -- Alberta in particular. The middle class is tired of the weight that's been placed on them with the high taxes and shitty programs. It's time we took our country back and it's nice to see that Quebec is agreeing with us again.
And I promise, no more optimistic polls. I'm not even going to mention 2004 or that'll put me into PEDS again (post-election distress syndrome).
And I can't wait until my father gets back from his month long stint in South Africa. He was never a big Harper fan. He even supported Belinda in the leadership race. While I carefully rub this win in his face, I know he'll say it should have been a majority. Then we'll have a talk about Hogtown.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Federal Election Prediction 2006
Science has shown that today, January 23rd, 2006 is the most depressing day of the year... for Paul Martin that is.
Here's my seat prediction, and I've maintained this for weeks now. Everyone is predicting a Conservative minority, while I'm predicting a Conservative Majority. You see, I've said, it's 1984 all over again. The Liberals are at 27%, just like they were then, their worst defeat ever, when they were reduced to below 50 seats, but I don't think they'll be that low this time, yet close to 3rd place because their vote is concentrated in the GTA. As well, I've seen graphs that show if you have at least an 8 point lead, you get a majority. Well, the polls show a 9-11 point lead for Harper.
A Bloc opposition would be a nightmare for Harper, having to pander to Quebec and answer in French all the time. A Liberal opposition would be ideal, as they would have no credibility in answering questions. In fact, it would be embarrassing for former cabinet ministers to ask questions regarding their old department. All the Conservative minister would have to say is, "Well, we're still trying to fix all the problems you created."
Conservatives: 159
Liberals: 60
Bloc: 58
NDP: 30
Ind.: 1 (Quebec)
So there you have it. It's optimistic. I was optimistic in 2004 and got burned. I'm praying that Canadians aren't as gullable as before.
Here's my seat prediction, and I've maintained this for weeks now. Everyone is predicting a Conservative minority, while I'm predicting a Conservative Majority. You see, I've said, it's 1984 all over again. The Liberals are at 27%, just like they were then, their worst defeat ever, when they were reduced to below 50 seats, but I don't think they'll be that low this time, yet close to 3rd place because their vote is concentrated in the GTA. As well, I've seen graphs that show if you have at least an 8 point lead, you get a majority. Well, the polls show a 9-11 point lead for Harper.
A Bloc opposition would be a nightmare for Harper, having to pander to Quebec and answer in French all the time. A Liberal opposition would be ideal, as they would have no credibility in answering questions. In fact, it would be embarrassing for former cabinet ministers to ask questions regarding their old department. All the Conservative minister would have to say is, "Well, we're still trying to fix all the problems you created."
Conservatives: 159
Liberals: 60
Bloc: 58
NDP: 30
Ind.: 1 (Quebec)
So there you have it. It's optimistic. I was optimistic in 2004 and got burned. I'm praying that Canadians aren't as gullable as before.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Snaky's Intermittent Movie Review - "The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"
I remember "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" being read to me way back in elementary school, but don't remember the story at all other than there were a few kids in it and some talking animals.Fellow Threedeker, Boobie, recommended I go see this flick.
The first scene really grabs you -- Nazi bombers over London in WWII. Very well done. Then they show the four kids, an eldest brother, a slightly younger sister, an even younger brother, and a little sister, running from the house, who also show great disdain for each other, then head into a bomb shelter with their mother. The next day they're shipped off to a safe haven away from London under a British program to protect the children from further Nazi bombing attacks. They now live in a large house owned by "The Professor" and while playing hide and seek, the little girl finds the wardrobe and a whole new world. And that is certainly an understatement.
It's a wonderfully told fantasy and I'm told the movie is EXACTLY like the book. The CGI animation of the talking animals work seemlessly with the real actors, which make the fantasy so real in itself.
The soundtrack is top notch, filled with flowing harmonies, much like Enya, but more volume, which beautifully compliments the dazzling winter and summer scenery.
The plot does become a bit predictable, especially for grown-ups who understand Christian symbolism and allegory, but it would be truly shocking for the little ones whose hopes get shattered and "resurrected". I gave that away there because even you should see it coming. The rising phoenix dividing the line of fire truly topped that symbolism and the ensuing battle, while not as dark and gory as Lord of the Rings, politely never showed any sword or arrow actually penetrate anything, and for a General audience, was not necessary anyway.
But the allegory of Narnia goes much deeper than this blatant religious portrayal.
The wardrobe is a representation of that inner portal of our souls where many of us are afraid to step into, to discover our true selves. "For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks." - Matthew 7:8.
Our curiousity, especially as children, and the wonders of exploration, hope, love, and the great rewards that follow, should continually drive us toward truth and selfawareness. The little girl who plays this role does it perfectly with big eyes, wide smiles, and a dainty glowing personna. She is that inner child we all have and must continue to call upon for our curiousity.
The white snow is our innocence and coldness, although shown with beauty and wonder, begins the journey. Friendship, trust, and sacrifice represented by Mr. Thomas, show us the initial steps toward love and charity.
Finally, although older, the next youngest saunters through the wardrobe into Narnia and meets the Queen of Narnia, a.k.a., the witch and finally, they all end up there, and in search of Mr. Thomas, who was taken away by the witch.
Without going to much further into the plot, the symbol of strength and power represented by Azlan the Lion (with a perfect voice-over by Liam Neisson), is the key. His sacrifice to save the youngest boy from his fall of grace is the ultimate moral of the story. Those who truly understand the "dark magic" know that death is nothing to fear, that a better life is yet to come.
This regeneration and rebirth is a fundamental aspect of our lives. We must continually look at ourselves and reassess whither are we directing our course, to seek for that which was lost, and with courage and fortitude, we hope to ultimately find.
Because of this core moral teaching which lay at the heart of the deep symbolism overshadowed by obvious allegory, this is an excellent movie everyone should see. Not only is it fun for the kids, but it will remind you to tend to your inner self and listen to that inner child begging to be heard again.
I don't have anything really bad to say about the movie, other than some predictability of it. I cried, I laughed, and was in awe of the production. The little girl actor stole the show, while the other three were weaker, and thus a slightly lower rating than you'd expect.
Snaky gives "The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" 4.37 Lion paws out of 5.
Monday, January 16, 2006
1984
Folks, I'm now convinced that the year is actually 1984. With political correctness at full tilt, the state controlling more of our lives each day, and the likely upcoming federal election outcome, Orwellian theory has slowly risen. This second-rate high-tax socalist state has been double-plus-bad ... er... , I mean, it really sucks.
The realization of Canadian society is that they now face reality. This state-owned dream of Canada - that Liberal vision, is a sham. Canadians aren't Liberals -- they're libertarians, and there's a big difference.
With a week to go in this long election campaign, Stephen Harper has shown himself to the electorate, to a wise, young middle-class regular non-scary guy that people can identify with (I could have told you that years ago). Especially in Quebec, where the Conservatives are polling at 32%, only 11 points behind the Bloc which was ignited by his speech in Quebec a couple weeks ago, the young whippersnapper has single-handedly shattered the separatist dream. There's a bit of Harpermania going on there. Certainly not to Trudeaumania levels, but they like him a lot.
A month ago, we were saying if Martin's Liberals won this election, our hope for Canada was lost, and Alberta's dream was alive. Well, that's been dashed for now. Despite Liberal claims, a strong federal government does not work in this confederation -- but regional respect does. Canada does not need a big strong federal government to keep the country together. Canadians can do that on their own, and we tired of that state-owned pride. We want it back. Quebec federalists want it back--and were ashamed when the Liberals were caught trying to buy it from them.
Now back to 1984, where Prime Minister John Turner, who'd taken over from Trudeau, was up against a well spoken Brian Mulroney. Canadians were tired of leftist-liberalism and a weak economy as a result, and saw an American economy bounce back with Reagan, lower taxes, and hope.
So like good music, in Canada, we tend to mimick our American friends, but are about 4 years behind. In 1984, we were 4 years behind electing a conservative. In 1988, we stuck to it. In 1993, we were a year behind the U.S. electing a liberal. Now we're just over 5 years behind a conservative again. In Ontario, voters tend to balance themselves out. During Conservative Mike Harris' Common Sense Revolution of the 90's, Chretien Liberals were in Ottawa. Now, Dalton McGuinty's Liberals are running that province, and voters are going to balance that out with a Harper Conservative federal government. Turner was a stutterererer -- so is Martin. Nice men, but indecisive. It's too easy!
And as I've said in a previous blog regarding music, shmoltzy rock ballads are back (listen to Nickelback), just like all that crap that began in 1984. The rebelliousness of music was gone -- everyone was happy. It was time to love again. Miami Vice was king. Oh wait! Guess what movie is coming out soon?
I should have seen a Harper government a long while back. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it'll be a majority -- not to the extent of Mulroney's 211 seats, but it'll be there, and that result will be double-plus-good ... er ... I mean, really awesome!
The realization of Canadian society is that they now face reality. This state-owned dream of Canada - that Liberal vision, is a sham. Canadians aren't Liberals -- they're libertarians, and there's a big difference.
With a week to go in this long election campaign, Stephen Harper has shown himself to the electorate, to a wise, young middle-class regular non-scary guy that people can identify with (I could have told you that years ago). Especially in Quebec, where the Conservatives are polling at 32%, only 11 points behind the Bloc which was ignited by his speech in Quebec a couple weeks ago, the young whippersnapper has single-handedly shattered the separatist dream. There's a bit of Harpermania going on there. Certainly not to Trudeaumania levels, but they like him a lot.
A month ago, we were saying if Martin's Liberals won this election, our hope for Canada was lost, and Alberta's dream was alive. Well, that's been dashed for now. Despite Liberal claims, a strong federal government does not work in this confederation -- but regional respect does. Canada does not need a big strong federal government to keep the country together. Canadians can do that on their own, and we tired of that state-owned pride. We want it back. Quebec federalists want it back--and were ashamed when the Liberals were caught trying to buy it from them.
Now back to 1984, where Prime Minister John Turner, who'd taken over from Trudeau, was up against a well spoken Brian Mulroney. Canadians were tired of leftist-liberalism and a weak economy as a result, and saw an American economy bounce back with Reagan, lower taxes, and hope.
So like good music, in Canada, we tend to mimick our American friends, but are about 4 years behind. In 1984, we were 4 years behind electing a conservative. In 1988, we stuck to it. In 1993, we were a year behind the U.S. electing a liberal. Now we're just over 5 years behind a conservative again. In Ontario, voters tend to balance themselves out. During Conservative Mike Harris' Common Sense Revolution of the 90's, Chretien Liberals were in Ottawa. Now, Dalton McGuinty's Liberals are running that province, and voters are going to balance that out with a Harper Conservative federal government. Turner was a stutterererer -- so is Martin. Nice men, but indecisive. It's too easy!
And as I've said in a previous blog regarding music, shmoltzy rock ballads are back (listen to Nickelback), just like all that crap that began in 1984. The rebelliousness of music was gone -- everyone was happy. It was time to love again. Miami Vice was king. Oh wait! Guess what movie is coming out soon?
I should have seen a Harper government a long while back. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it'll be a majority -- not to the extent of Mulroney's 211 seats, but it'll be there, and that result will be double-plus-good ... er ... I mean, really awesome!
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Campaign break is over...
Momentum is now on Stephen Harper's side.
I'm thinking that over the holidays, a lot of Canadians got together in groups, say over dinner, or at a party, and a big topic was politics, and the social norm was to trash the Liberals and support the Conservatives.
Of course, ITScam with Finance Minister Ralph Goodale and Paul Martin dithering once again, and I mean REALLY dithering on who in the PMO and Finance Dep't knew about the leak, "Um, look, uh, um, you see, um, you know, um" is just frustrating to listen to.
While there still maybe some soft-NDP going to the Liberals, methinks the usual Liberal default voters are just going to sit this one out, or punish their own party by voting NDP to split the vote or Conservative to really give it to them.
I'm thinking that over the holidays, a lot of Canadians got together in groups, say over dinner, or at a party, and a big topic was politics, and the social norm was to trash the Liberals and support the Conservatives.
Of course, ITScam with Finance Minister Ralph Goodale and Paul Martin dithering once again, and I mean REALLY dithering on who in the PMO and Finance Dep't knew about the leak, "Um, look, uh, um, you see, um, you know, um" is just frustrating to listen to.
While there still maybe some soft-NDP going to the Liberals, methinks the usual Liberal default voters are just going to sit this one out, or punish their own party by voting NDP to split the vote or Conservative to really give it to them.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Liberals exposed!
Last Friday was the English debate. In summary, most think it was a tie between Harper and Martin.
This campaign is not only turning out to be a clash of ideology between socialism and progressive capitalism on economic lines, but it's also beginning to become a clash of ideology between Trudeau's centralized federalism versus provincial autonomy -- something the old Mulroney PCs used to do well in Quebec on. Harper appears to be playing Brian's old card. And it's working.
Anyway, I wanted to summarize what Paul Martin and the Liberals have been saying and doing over the campaign, and I think it's all going to backfire come January. Watch their war room salvo a massive negative attack against Harper on Jan. 2nd.
1. Quebec Campaign
Martin and Couchon making the Liberal campaign in Quebec about a choice between federalism and sovereignty, saying a vote for the Bloc is a 'Yes' vote in the referendum is not working. Last week, Martin challenged Duceppe to a debate on "any street corner in Quebec", so Duceppe makes such a challenge which Martin declines! Then Harper steps up and offers to debate Duceppe.
Harper is also getting support from Liberal Premier Charest and ADQ leader Mario Dumont on Harper's vision for a decentralized federal gov't. Harper gets credit for saying the Liberals prefer the PQ in Quebec so Martin can look like the saviour. While the Conservative Party's best chance in Quebec is 3 seats -- likely none, they are splitting the federalist vote there, causing the Bloc to shoot way ahead. Currently, polls show the Bloc at 60% and the Liberals dropping to 20%. This could be a Bloc sweep.
2. The Americans
Martin's Liberal war room has been planning to use the anti-U.S. card at the right time in the campaign. At a Montreal international conference on global warming, Martin with Bill Clinton targets the U.S. on not participating in Kyoto, that they're not following the "global conscious" was quickly responded by the American ambassador to Canada. All the while emissions in Canada are up 24% while in the U.S. they're only up 13%. Harper brilliantly jumps in the frey and says Martin is irresponsible to begin a war of words with the Americans during an election campaign with softwood lumber a major trade issue, while at the same time, says the U.S. ambassador shouldn't get involved by staying out of the federal election.
But this was all planned by the Liberals from the get go. Separately released Liberal TV ads show a different message, but obviously recorded with the same people at the same time... I guess they assume Canadians are really that dumb. Speaking of which...
2a. Liberal Ads
In trying to show average Canadians supporting the Liberal record, the truth came out in exposing that the people in the ads were actually Liberal workers, and some relatives of Liberal candidates.
3. Day Care
The "Beer and Popcorn" gaffe by Paul Martin's chief communications guru, on top of Martin saying that they would never suggest that parents don't know how to spend their money, automatically ended the debate and declared Harper the winner. How do I know? Well, Martin's response to this was to lambast Harper on same-sex marriage.
4. Holiday hours! Liberal campaign workers go back to work ... at the gov't.
Over the holiday season, campaign workers paid by the Liberals will go back to work at the gov't, but won't be collecting cheques from the Liberals. Why? The Liberals are broke. Usury?
5. Handguns
Harper points out that Martin's declaration to ban handguns is frugle since THEY ARE ALREADY BANNED! Martin's living in desperate times.
6. "Take your NRA gun loving ass back to the U.S!"
That's all for now. Those are the major Liberal blunders, in case you forgot to keep track.
This campaign is not only turning out to be a clash of ideology between socialism and progressive capitalism on economic lines, but it's also beginning to become a clash of ideology between Trudeau's centralized federalism versus provincial autonomy -- something the old Mulroney PCs used to do well in Quebec on. Harper appears to be playing Brian's old card. And it's working.
Anyway, I wanted to summarize what Paul Martin and the Liberals have been saying and doing over the campaign, and I think it's all going to backfire come January. Watch their war room salvo a massive negative attack against Harper on Jan. 2nd.
1. Quebec Campaign
Martin and Couchon making the Liberal campaign in Quebec about a choice between federalism and sovereignty, saying a vote for the Bloc is a 'Yes' vote in the referendum is not working. Last week, Martin challenged Duceppe to a debate on "any street corner in Quebec", so Duceppe makes such a challenge which Martin declines! Then Harper steps up and offers to debate Duceppe.
Harper is also getting support from Liberal Premier Charest and ADQ leader Mario Dumont on Harper's vision for a decentralized federal gov't. Harper gets credit for saying the Liberals prefer the PQ in Quebec so Martin can look like the saviour. While the Conservative Party's best chance in Quebec is 3 seats -- likely none, they are splitting the federalist vote there, causing the Bloc to shoot way ahead. Currently, polls show the Bloc at 60% and the Liberals dropping to 20%. This could be a Bloc sweep.
2. The Americans
Martin's Liberal war room has been planning to use the anti-U.S. card at the right time in the campaign. At a Montreal international conference on global warming, Martin with Bill Clinton targets the U.S. on not participating in Kyoto, that they're not following the "global conscious" was quickly responded by the American ambassador to Canada. All the while emissions in Canada are up 24% while in the U.S. they're only up 13%. Harper brilliantly jumps in the frey and says Martin is irresponsible to begin a war of words with the Americans during an election campaign with softwood lumber a major trade issue, while at the same time, says the U.S. ambassador shouldn't get involved by staying out of the federal election.
But this was all planned by the Liberals from the get go. Separately released Liberal TV ads show a different message, but obviously recorded with the same people at the same time... I guess they assume Canadians are really that dumb. Speaking of which...
2a. Liberal Ads
In trying to show average Canadians supporting the Liberal record, the truth came out in exposing that the people in the ads were actually Liberal workers, and some relatives of Liberal candidates.
3. Day Care
The "Beer and Popcorn" gaffe by Paul Martin's chief communications guru, on top of Martin saying that they would never suggest that parents don't know how to spend their money, automatically ended the debate and declared Harper the winner. How do I know? Well, Martin's response to this was to lambast Harper on same-sex marriage.
4. Holiday hours! Liberal campaign workers go back to work ... at the gov't.
Over the holiday season, campaign workers paid by the Liberals will go back to work at the gov't, but won't be collecting cheques from the Liberals. Why? The Liberals are broke. Usury?
5. Handguns
Harper points out that Martin's declaration to ban handguns is frugle since THEY ARE ALREADY BANNED! Martin's living in desperate times.
6. "Take your NRA gun loving ass back to the U.S!"
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Page: A5
Section: News
Byline: Glen McGregor
Column: Highway 308
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
Guns & Drugs
Elie Betito is known in political circles as the chief spokesman for
generic drug company Apotex, and can often be seen on the Hill helping the
company in its ongoing campaign for changes to patent drug rules. But Mr. Betito
got a splash of ink this week for something entirely different over an e-mail he
sent to Stacey Cherwonak, a sport shooter and forensic firearms expert with the
RCMP in Ottawa.As a volunteer on Liberal candidate Bonnie Brown's campaign in Oakville, Mr. Betito fielded Mr. Cherwonak's angry e-mail last week over the Liberal announcement about further restrictions on handguns. He closed his e-mail with, "you lying bastards."Mr. Betito e-mailed back: "take your NRA , GUN LOVING ASS BACK TO THE U.S. WHERE YOU BELONG, E. BETITO." Mr. Betito admits the e-mail was written in "a moment of insanity," and says he was provoked into the foolish move by the tone of Mr. Cherwonak's message and his concerns about the Dodge City environment in the Toronto 'burbs. He has resigned from Ms. Brown's campaign and apologized to Mr. Cherwonak.But Mr. Betito says he now feels like he's the one in the crosshairs.
Once his e-mail was posted on a blog, it spread rapidly among the guns 'n' ammo set across North America. He says he has received hundreds of e-mails from the U.S. and Canada, many threatening in tone."I have been bombarded," he said. "I got concerned about my welfare. I never knew the reach and breadth of these groups." Mr. Betito says some e-mails are suggesting a boycott of Apotex's drugs and others were sent to his bosses to demand he be fired.One message confused his gender and began with the salutation, "You Liberal slut." One website posted his home address.
'This is the greatest level of intimidation I have ever seen,' Mr. Betito said, and
that's something coming from someone who regularly picks fights with the most
powerful industry in the world -- the brand-name drug companies.And Take Your Beer and Popcorn With You
Meanwhile, Mr. Cherwonak is giving some serious consideration to taking Mr. Betito's advice. "I may be taking my gun-loving ass to the U.S. after all," he said. He is reconsidering his future in Canada because of the Liberal approach to gun control. He calls Liberal leader Paul Martin's proposal on new handgun restrictions "a grub for votes in Toronto," that may force him to relocate if he wants to continue competitive sport shooting. The message from Mr. Betito did not surprise him, he said, given the party's past position on guns. It was one of only a few replies he received after blanketing Ontario Liberal MPs with his e-mailed message of protest. One reply from a Liberal campaign worker came with a suggestion: "It said you better practise because Harper's going to send you to Iraq," he said.
That's all for now. Those are the major Liberal blunders, in case you forgot to keep track.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Liberals, Fiberals...
Believe it or not, this election seems to be coming down to an ideological war.
On one hand you have the Martin Liberals, with their "parents will spend the money on beer and popcorn" paternalistic statist view of child care, compared with Harper's Conservatives -- libertarian views that people can make their own choices about how to raise their kids.
Simply put, Liberals would rather that they control and provide for your whole life, from cradle to grave, using your own money.
Methinks the Liberals think government knows how to spend your money better than you can. And when that dirty envelope money gets passed to a Liberal-friendly adfirm under a table at a restaurant which is then passed on to the Liberal party itself, I guess they must be right.
Do they think Canadians are that stupid?
Well, if Ontario votes Liberal again, there's your answer.
On one hand you have the Martin Liberals, with their "parents will spend the money on beer and popcorn" paternalistic statist view of child care, compared with Harper's Conservatives -- libertarian views that people can make their own choices about how to raise their kids.
Simply put, Liberals would rather that they control and provide for your whole life, from cradle to grave, using your own money.
Methinks the Liberals think government knows how to spend your money better than you can. And when that dirty envelope money gets passed to a Liberal-friendly adfirm under a table at a restaurant which is then passed on to the Liberal party itself, I guess they must be right.
Do they think Canadians are that stupid?
Well, if Ontario votes Liberal again, there's your answer.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Walk [Above] the Line...
The comparisons between "Ray" with Jamie Foxx and "Walk the Line" with Joaquin Pheonix are out. So striking that the stories of both musicians growing up in the south, from a child who loves music, his brother, his parent, making it in music biz, drugs, wives, the road, groupies, cheating, a mistress, kids, seem to be common for growing stars in the 50's and 60's trying to balance stardom and a normal Christian life.
So, yes, let us compare.
So since both stories are similar and both were delivered in relatively the same manner, I'd say that "Walk the Line" wins out slightly. Why? "Ray" seemed to drag in places, where "Walk the Line" was more to the point, much like Johnny Cash's style.
And "Ray" did very well, as did Jamie Foxx. I expect a bit more success for "Walk".
Jamie Foxx really looked like acted and sounded like Ray Charles, as he did some method acting of being blind to get into the role and hung out with Ray himself.
But did the plot and dialogue carry Foxx's portrayal? Don't get me wrong, Foxx did an amazing job, but now in comparison to Phoenix, I can now see the difference and slight lack on Foxx's part. Slight. But I wish to emphasize that slight made a big difference.
Johnny Cash fully endorsed Joaquin Phoenix's typecasting. Phoenix, in my opinion, is an underrated actor. Not anymore.
I especially wondered if Phoenix poured his own soul and life into the role. He could honestly relate to Cash's life, as he too lost a dear brother to an accident and continually suffers from drug addiction. Now THAT's method acting--when your own life is similar to the person you're portraying. And I believe that aspect, coupled with Phoenix's many talents, gave him a slight edge over Foxx.
The camera production was excellent. When Johnny was drunk and on pills, you could FEEL it and relate to the character as the camera gave you first person view of the blur he felt. Yes, I know, can't really do that with a blind guy. But why not? Why didn't they black out the screen and only have sounds? Instead they went with flashbacks to Ray's childhood as the underlying theme.
You won't find flashbacks in "Walk" and I think it was more effective. Johnny seemed to lock up that pain of his brother dying and his drunken father telling him "the wrong kid died" way way down for a long long time, until decades later when it finally comes out at the Thanksgiving dinner table. But was it yelling? No. You could hear that pain and anger in his voice and see in his eyes.
This is a story about being saved. I didn't get that feel as much from watching "Ray".
Johnny needed saving. He loved his older brother, who was destined to be a preacher, as his best friend and companion. But no matter how successful he got, nothing was good enough for his father. The music that came out of his voice reflected that lament and suffering. He so badly wanted forgiveness. And early on in the tour with Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, etc. he met June Carter and realized right there that she understood him like no one else.
So Big kudos to Reeses Pieces Witherspoon for an outstanding performance. Absolutely spot on to June Carter, a strong talented witty woman who saw that special something in Johnny and even after 40 marriage proposals (although he was still married!), dressing room trashing, spending time in jail for drugs, we know she finally says yes.
But before that, when her career wasn't taking off, she married a stock car driver but that relationship wasn't doing well. Johnny and her hadn't seen each other in a while until a music awards ceremony. He asks her to join his tour and says he'll provide for her no matter what. This was the first time Johnny truly offered anything to June and was a big turning point in their unusual relationship.
But while Johnny turned to other substitutes for salvation, he always knew June was the one. It was June and her parents who ultimately saved him from drugs by fending off dealers with double barrel shotguns from his lake side country home. He finally recovers and they get married. While not shown, you can tell his father is finally proud of him.
Phoenix's true and real method acting got to the core and soul of the character so much that I could really feel the emotion and relate it to my own life. And this made me understand Johnny Cash the man.
The only wish I had for the movie was showing more interaction with the other big stars of the 50's, like Elvis. There were a couple scenes, but Johnny's focus was always on June.
Snaky gives "Walk the Line", 4.12 fists out of 5.
So, yes, let us compare.
So since both stories are similar and both were delivered in relatively the same manner, I'd say that "Walk the Line" wins out slightly. Why? "Ray" seemed to drag in places, where "Walk the Line" was more to the point, much like Johnny Cash's style.
And "Ray" did very well, as did Jamie Foxx. I expect a bit more success for "Walk".
Jamie Foxx really looked like acted and sounded like Ray Charles, as he did some method acting of being blind to get into the role and hung out with Ray himself.
But did the plot and dialogue carry Foxx's portrayal? Don't get me wrong, Foxx did an amazing job, but now in comparison to Phoenix, I can now see the difference and slight lack on Foxx's part. Slight. But I wish to emphasize that slight made a big difference.
Johnny Cash fully endorsed Joaquin Phoenix's typecasting. Phoenix, in my opinion, is an underrated actor. Not anymore.
I especially wondered if Phoenix poured his own soul and life into the role. He could honestly relate to Cash's life, as he too lost a dear brother to an accident and continually suffers from drug addiction. Now THAT's method acting--when your own life is similar to the person you're portraying. And I believe that aspect, coupled with Phoenix's many talents, gave him a slight edge over Foxx.
The camera production was excellent. When Johnny was drunk and on pills, you could FEEL it and relate to the character as the camera gave you first person view of the blur he felt. Yes, I know, can't really do that with a blind guy. But why not? Why didn't they black out the screen and only have sounds? Instead they went with flashbacks to Ray's childhood as the underlying theme.
You won't find flashbacks in "Walk" and I think it was more effective. Johnny seemed to lock up that pain of his brother dying and his drunken father telling him "the wrong kid died" way way down for a long long time, until decades later when it finally comes out at the Thanksgiving dinner table. But was it yelling? No. You could hear that pain and anger in his voice and see in his eyes.
This is a story about being saved. I didn't get that feel as much from watching "Ray".
Johnny needed saving. He loved his older brother, who was destined to be a preacher, as his best friend and companion. But no matter how successful he got, nothing was good enough for his father. The music that came out of his voice reflected that lament and suffering. He so badly wanted forgiveness. And early on in the tour with Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, etc. he met June Carter and realized right there that she understood him like no one else.
So Big kudos to Reeses Pieces Witherspoon for an outstanding performance. Absolutely spot on to June Carter, a strong talented witty woman who saw that special something in Johnny and even after 40 marriage proposals (although he was still married!), dressing room trashing, spending time in jail for drugs, we know she finally says yes.
But before that, when her career wasn't taking off, she married a stock car driver but that relationship wasn't doing well. Johnny and her hadn't seen each other in a while until a music awards ceremony. He asks her to join his tour and says he'll provide for her no matter what. This was the first time Johnny truly offered anything to June and was a big turning point in their unusual relationship.
But while Johnny turned to other substitutes for salvation, he always knew June was the one. It was June and her parents who ultimately saved him from drugs by fending off dealers with double barrel shotguns from his lake side country home. He finally recovers and they get married. While not shown, you can tell his father is finally proud of him.
Phoenix's true and real method acting got to the core and soul of the character so much that I could really feel the emotion and relate it to my own life. And this made me understand Johnny Cash the man.
The only wish I had for the movie was showing more interaction with the other big stars of the 50's, like Elvis. There were a couple scenes, but Johnny's focus was always on June.
Snaky gives "Walk the Line", 4.12 fists out of 5.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Queens 4 -- Nails 2
When you go see a live band, what do you want to see and hear? You don't want to just hear the album.
The other day I was invited to go the Nine Inch Nails (NIN) with Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) concert. I know a few QOTSA tunes, and thought I might recognize a couple NIN tracks and I heard their show was pretty cool, so what the hell. I accepted the free ticket.
So last night, six of us dudes went to Rexall Place. The radio and the ticket said QOTSA started at 7pm and we got their at 6:50 and they were already playing. So I grab a couple beers and we find our seats near the top back of the coliseum. We all then moved up to the standing 'room' part so we could place our beers on the ledge. It was perfect.
The crowd was right into Josh Homme's haunting smooth voice and trying to find the off time rhythms in one of the tightest and original bands I've ever seen live. Unlike Pearl Jam, they weren't jammin'. They were cookin'. While most of us were musicians ourselves, we quickly picked up the timings but by that time, the band was already zooming onto another part. We simply couldn't keep up and I appreciated every nuance. Even one of the guitar players jumped on the keyboards for a very original groove undergroundish rock tune.
They say Josh used to do a lot of heavy drugs. Well, they sure churned out some originality, weird note patterns, lyrics, and textures that you were sure they were probably on 'em during the writing process. Tell you what, if they're pumping out killer progressive tunes like that consistently, I'll let 'em do all the drugs they want on my behalf.
We then hear Josh talking to some dude in the crowd on the floor who was apparently lipping him off or something. Josh showed a lot of class in his responses: "Hey dude, we're just tryin' to have some fun here. Am I right folks?" (Crowd roars.) This "conversation" continued for a few more songs but then Josh steps it up and insults him, his mother, and the whole crowd laughed. Then he says, "Okay, this next is for you, man. It's called 'Little Bitch'". And then of course they go right into 'Little Sister', an awesome hit and they nail it.
I mentioned to one of the boys that most of their songs are about four minutes. Put a shoe in my mouth, 'cause right after I say that, they play a wickedly fast 1 minute instrumental. Good variety.
The sound at the coliseum is wanting, but I was surprised at how good the Queens did sound. I guess it's because they play so tightly that the sounds don't blend into each other when it reverberates on the back wall.
Then they encore with their big hit, which my band also plays, "No One Knows". But the Queens decide to speed it up ... a lot! See, wasn't expecting that. Then they play quieter and quieter (is that a word?) to nothing and Josh beautifully sings out the words ... pause, and finally they kick into the last part. But I was disappointed they didn't do the solo of the song, which is really really freaking difficult for a band to play -- trust me, I know. We've worked on it and worked on it, and Queens decide to not even do it! Oh well, it still kicked ass.
Needless to say, at no point of watching QOTSA was I bored. Actually, I was blown away. They had enough stage lights that complimented the music nicely, flashes in time with the drums, etc., but the music is what was really bright. I would definitely see them again.
Then...
The stage was then box curtained in a transparent white. The lights go off. The music blars and Nine Inch Nails takes the stage in silouette behind the curtain. Very cool stage design, lots of power lights, and a high energy show all 'round.
But I think only a couple songs actually stood out. The rest were all basically the same and the cool light show seemed to be making up for a lot in the lack of originality. Sure NIN is different than the mainstream, but compared with their own music, there didn't seem to be a lot of variety.
Then for about 20 minutes, they refused to play because everyone at the front was pushing forward. It was general admission on the floor. I wanted to skedaddle, but we stayed and I even heard some people chanting "Let's go Oilers!" Funny.
Finally they came back but projected news footage on the front curtain screen for about two songs, showed George W and Laura ballroom dancing. I thought, "Are we at the movies?" "This is CNN." I'm all for visuals, but this wasn't artistic. I really don't like musicians getting involved in partisan politics, because they really don't have any sway, nor do they have anything to say. USE YOUR MUSIC TO COMMUNICATE DUMBASS.
Anyway, then some droning unoriginal and depressing piano part comes on. I sat down. I fell asleep. That's right, I fell asleep. I yelled out "BORING!" But I don't think anyone heard.
Finally at 11:30pm, the show was over.
Keeping in mind I probably recognized 5 songs total that night...
Snak gives Queens of the Stone Age a 10/10 for musicianship, 6/10 for stage show. So an even 8/10.
I give Nine Inch Nails 2/10 for musicianship, and 8/10 for stage show. So 5/10.
But since we were at the coliseum:
Queens 4 -- Nails 2.
The other day I was invited to go the Nine Inch Nails (NIN) with Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) concert. I know a few QOTSA tunes, and thought I might recognize a couple NIN tracks and I heard their show was pretty cool, so what the hell. I accepted the free ticket.
So last night, six of us dudes went to Rexall Place. The radio and the ticket said QOTSA started at 7pm and we got their at 6:50 and they were already playing. So I grab a couple beers and we find our seats near the top back of the coliseum. We all then moved up to the standing 'room' part so we could place our beers on the ledge. It was perfect.
The crowd was right into Josh Homme's haunting smooth voice and trying to find the off time rhythms in one of the tightest and original bands I've ever seen live. Unlike Pearl Jam, they weren't jammin'. They were cookin'. While most of us were musicians ourselves, we quickly picked up the timings but by that time, the band was already zooming onto another part. We simply couldn't keep up and I appreciated every nuance. Even one of the guitar players jumped on the keyboards for a very original groove undergroundish rock tune.
They say Josh used to do a lot of heavy drugs. Well, they sure churned out some originality, weird note patterns, lyrics, and textures that you were sure they were probably on 'em during the writing process. Tell you what, if they're pumping out killer progressive tunes like that consistently, I'll let 'em do all the drugs they want on my behalf.
We then hear Josh talking to some dude in the crowd on the floor who was apparently lipping him off or something. Josh showed a lot of class in his responses: "Hey dude, we're just tryin' to have some fun here. Am I right folks?" (Crowd roars.) This "conversation" continued for a few more songs but then Josh steps it up and insults him, his mother, and the whole crowd laughed. Then he says, "Okay, this next is for you, man. It's called 'Little Bitch'". And then of course they go right into 'Little Sister', an awesome hit and they nail it.
I mentioned to one of the boys that most of their songs are about four minutes. Put a shoe in my mouth, 'cause right after I say that, they play a wickedly fast 1 minute instrumental. Good variety.
The sound at the coliseum is wanting, but I was surprised at how good the Queens did sound. I guess it's because they play so tightly that the sounds don't blend into each other when it reverberates on the back wall.
Then they encore with their big hit, which my band also plays, "No One Knows". But the Queens decide to speed it up ... a lot! See, wasn't expecting that. Then they play quieter and quieter (is that a word?) to nothing and Josh beautifully sings out the words ... pause, and finally they kick into the last part. But I was disappointed they didn't do the solo of the song, which is really really freaking difficult for a band to play -- trust me, I know. We've worked on it and worked on it, and Queens decide to not even do it! Oh well, it still kicked ass.
Needless to say, at no point of watching QOTSA was I bored. Actually, I was blown away. They had enough stage lights that complimented the music nicely, flashes in time with the drums, etc., but the music is what was really bright. I would definitely see them again.
Then...
The stage was then box curtained in a transparent white. The lights go off. The music blars and Nine Inch Nails takes the stage in silouette behind the curtain. Very cool stage design, lots of power lights, and a high energy show all 'round.
But I think only a couple songs actually stood out. The rest were all basically the same and the cool light show seemed to be making up for a lot in the lack of originality. Sure NIN is different than the mainstream, but compared with their own music, there didn't seem to be a lot of variety.
Then for about 20 minutes, they refused to play because everyone at the front was pushing forward. It was general admission on the floor. I wanted to skedaddle, but we stayed and I even heard some people chanting "Let's go Oilers!" Funny.
Finally they came back but projected news footage on the front curtain screen for about two songs, showed George W and Laura ballroom dancing. I thought, "Are we at the movies?" "This is CNN." I'm all for visuals, but this wasn't artistic. I really don't like musicians getting involved in partisan politics, because they really don't have any sway, nor do they have anything to say. USE YOUR MUSIC TO COMMUNICATE DUMBASS.
Anyway, then some droning unoriginal and depressing piano part comes on. I sat down. I fell asleep. That's right, I fell asleep. I yelled out "BORING!" But I don't think anyone heard.
Finally at 11:30pm, the show was over.
Keeping in mind I probably recognized 5 songs total that night...
Snak gives Queens of the Stone Age a 10/10 for musicianship, 6/10 for stage show. So an even 8/10.
I give Nine Inch Nails 2/10 for musicianship, and 8/10 for stage show. So 5/10.
But since we were at the coliseum:
Queens 4 -- Nails 2.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
The Answer To Life, The Universe, and Everything
This isn't necessarily a critique, just some deep thoughts about the universe and God. As a Mason, I continually challenge myself to pursue this of all subjects, reading about science, exploring the cosmos, and how religion fit in. Some say science and religion should stay far away from each other. I don't, dogma aside, I think they fit just nicely.
Remember when Einstein used to say things like "God does not play with dice"? He was able to keep God into the scientific mix so well and always made us wonder. He showed that yes, science is limited to what we can observe or theorize based on existing facts and calculations. But what IS beyond that?
Not long after that, Hubble showed that the galaxies were moving away from each other. This gave us the first notion that they must have been closer together and even closer ... and even really really close -- that they formed a singularity and exploded into the Big Bang.
So they've recently calculated that our universe is 13.7 billion years old, that it is expanding exponentially (or perhaps like the Fibonacci sequence ???).
There are theories like Cosmic Inflation that say the universe will continue like that forever into a cold dark spance or that it will reach a point that gravity will pull it all back into the Big Crunch and maybe it all starts over again, because total energy doesn't change.
So in one sense, the universe is finite because it is expanding, in another it is infinite because we'll never know or see the end of it. But that's because of human limit, from our ego, from our limited mind.
So if our universe is finite, then what's beyond that?
What about multiple universes? If there are multiple universes, then they must be finite otherwise they would all be one in the same. Think about a bunch of bubbles that get bigger and bigger, but what's between them? Nothing? Do they collide? Do bigger ones swallow smaller ones? So what's holding all these universes? Another universe? And what holds that? Now were into infinity again. Whew.
Now let's go the other way. Nuclear physics continually explores smaller and smaller things. Everything is made of something smaller. We're made of cells and our cells are made of things like mitochondria, then DNA, which is made of chemicals, which are made of elements, atoms, protons, quarks, ... it just keeps going.
So will we ever come to the end? Science still does not explain everything, and perhaps it never will as long as things are infinitely large and infinitely small. It seems when atheists use science as their mantra, they can only go as far as we know.
Stephen Hawking is another well known physicist whose explanations on black holes, the universe, light, gravity, time, quantum theory, string theory, relativity, are fun to read and understandable. He, much like Einstein, does not count out God in the equation. In fact, he says that's what we're doing with discovering theories and exploring science -- is knowing the mind of God. What motivation!!!
Because when we ask "Why are we here?", who do we expect to answer this question? Is it chance that we're here, or IS there a reason?
So now the question is, "Is God playing with dice, or is He blowing bubbles?"
Remember when Einstein used to say things like "God does not play with dice"? He was able to keep God into the scientific mix so well and always made us wonder. He showed that yes, science is limited to what we can observe or theorize based on existing facts and calculations. But what IS beyond that?
Not long after that, Hubble showed that the galaxies were moving away from each other. This gave us the first notion that they must have been closer together and even closer ... and even really really close -- that they formed a singularity and exploded into the Big Bang.
So they've recently calculated that our universe is 13.7 billion years old, that it is expanding exponentially (or perhaps like the Fibonacci sequence ???).
There are theories like Cosmic Inflation that say the universe will continue like that forever into a cold dark spance or that it will reach a point that gravity will pull it all back into the Big Crunch and maybe it all starts over again, because total energy doesn't change.
So in one sense, the universe is finite because it is expanding, in another it is infinite because we'll never know or see the end of it. But that's because of human limit, from our ego, from our limited mind.
So if our universe is finite, then what's beyond that?
What about multiple universes? If there are multiple universes, then they must be finite otherwise they would all be one in the same. Think about a bunch of bubbles that get bigger and bigger, but what's between them? Nothing? Do they collide? Do bigger ones swallow smaller ones? So what's holding all these universes? Another universe? And what holds that? Now were into infinity again. Whew.
Now let's go the other way. Nuclear physics continually explores smaller and smaller things. Everything is made of something smaller. We're made of cells and our cells are made of things like mitochondria, then DNA, which is made of chemicals, which are made of elements, atoms, protons, quarks, ... it just keeps going.
So will we ever come to the end? Science still does not explain everything, and perhaps it never will as long as things are infinitely large and infinitely small. It seems when atheists use science as their mantra, they can only go as far as we know.
Stephen Hawking is another well known physicist whose explanations on black holes, the universe, light, gravity, time, quantum theory, string theory, relativity, are fun to read and understandable. He, much like Einstein, does not count out God in the equation. In fact, he says that's what we're doing with discovering theories and exploring science -- is knowing the mind of God. What motivation!!!
Because when we ask "Why are we here?", who do we expect to answer this question? Is it chance that we're here, or IS there a reason?
So now the question is, "Is God playing with dice, or is He blowing bubbles?"
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Report du Gomery Part Un...
So the report is out.
Justice Gomery puts the blame on Chretien and his cronies. Gee, I coulda told you that!
He also exonerated Prime Minister Paul Martin, yet blames the entire Liberal gov't cabinet at the time of the scandal 10 years ago, when Paul Martin was the Finance Minister.
I'm guessing that Paul Martin knew full well what was going on, but took active steps in making sure it looked liked he didn't know and made sure information was given to him at arm's length. Smart move on his part.
What's interesting is just under two years ago in December 2003 when Paul took the reigns of the PMO, he ordered a full sweeping audit of gov't finances, but this was not done by the Auditor General. To me, that indicates he knew something was up before the AG did her bidding on the gov't who eventually exposed the whole scandal.
Well, with the second part of the report due in February, and Paul promising to call an election 30 days after that, we're now looking at an April election. Isn't it nice for all those post-secondary students to get closed out of participating in the election while they study and write final exams? Isn't that ... oh, I don't know, a bit convenient?
About as convenient as not blaming Paul for gov't finances.
Justice Gomery puts the blame on Chretien and his cronies. Gee, I coulda told you that!
He also exonerated Prime Minister Paul Martin, yet blames the entire Liberal gov't cabinet at the time of the scandal 10 years ago, when Paul Martin was the Finance Minister.
I'm guessing that Paul Martin knew full well what was going on, but took active steps in making sure it looked liked he didn't know and made sure information was given to him at arm's length. Smart move on his part.
What's interesting is just under two years ago in December 2003 when Paul took the reigns of the PMO, he ordered a full sweeping audit of gov't finances, but this was not done by the Auditor General. To me, that indicates he knew something was up before the AG did her bidding on the gov't who eventually exposed the whole scandal.
Well, with the second part of the report due in February, and Paul promising to call an election 30 days after that, we're now looking at an April election. Isn't it nice for all those post-secondary students to get closed out of participating in the election while they study and write final exams? Isn't that ... oh, I don't know, a bit convenient?
About as convenient as not blaming Paul for gov't finances.
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